Access From “Top Level” Account Led to Cyberattack on State Registers – Lawmaker

The cause of a large-scale recent cyberattack on the state registers of the Ministry of Justice could have been a phishing attack but may have involved bribery of employees with access to the files.

Alexander Fedienko, head of the Verkhovna Rada’s subcommittee on cybersecurity, stated this in a comment to Radio Svoboda on Dec. 23, Forbes Ukraine reported.

Kyiv Post reported on Dec. 20 that Russian intelligence was likely behind the attack that has led to the suspension of operations of the Ministry’s Unified and State Registers.

“The main [scenario] being considered by the SBU [Security Service of Ukraine] is that Russian intelligence services, specifically groups linked to the GRU [Russia’s military intelligence agency] are behind this cyberattack,” acting head of the SBU’s cybersecurity department, Volodymyr Karastelov, said.

However, Fedienko stated that access to the registers was opened from an account close to a “top-level account,” meaning this could be an account belonging to a senior Ukrainian official.

The attack was well-prepared, Fedienko said, speculating that hackers could have gained access to the system through recruitment of an employee or via a phishing attack, targeting all employees’ computers. 

“This was a clearly and expertly planned cyberattack that could only have been executed with substantial systematic organization,” he added. 

Other Topics of Interest

EXPLAINER: Will Sanctions Stop Russian Banker From Working in Washington’s IMF HQ?

Ksenia Yudaeva, a sanctioned Russian central banker advisor, has been appointed by Moscow as its executive director for Russia. How will the IMF and the US respond?

Citing unofficial sources, Fedienko said that the databases were preserved, meaning the registries can be restored, albeit gradually.Minister of Justice Olha Stefanishyna previously said that work on restoring the registry data is ongoing. The first to be restored will be registers related to notaries, as well as the property rights register and the register of legal and physical entities.

Officials reported that the initial restoration time for the registers may be approximately two weeks.